The influence of income, education and occupation as dimensions of one’s social class on families’ socialization-education processes

Abstract

This article addresses the theories and studies related to the impact of social class or socioeconomic status on socialization-education processes of families. The family stress model of economic hardship suggests that poverty has an adverse effect on parents’ emotions, behaviors, relationships, their parenting and/or socialization strategies. Parents in lower-socioeconomic status compared with middle-socioeconomic status are more likely to use a harsher, more authoritarian, parenting style as indicated by physical punishment and the absence of reasoning with children about the consequences of their behavior. The family investment model discusses that wealthy families are able to make significant investments in their children, whereas poor families must invest in more immediate family needs. Compared to poor families, parents in higher-socioeconomic status were more likely to demonstrate affection and respect for children, engage their children in conversation, learning activities